Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30233 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
A bright and sunny Saturday morning, although you wouldn’t want to spend long outside as it would appear that the wind is coming direct from the North Pole.
A Saturday Prize Puzzle which required the odd bit of dictionary-checking. Most of the clues I haven’t hinted are either anagrams or lurkers, but please ask if you are still stuck.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also”. Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions.
Some hints follow.
Across
1a Plan support also arranged (8)
A support and an anagram (arranged)of ALSO
9a Notice unending rash (4)
A rash has more than one of these synonyms for notice!
12a Prison officer‘s pay (5)
Slang names for a prison officer and wages (pay)
22a Posh son will have time for established procedure (5)
The usual letter representing ‘posh’, the abbreviation for son and a period of time
24a Night-watchman? (9)
A cryptic definition of someone who watches the night sky
30a Spotted a careless mark with a later day (8)
An anagram (careless) of SPOTTED A
Down
2d Cancel bellringers’ encore? (6)
This verb meaning to cancel sounds like some bellringers would be ringing an encore. However, as this particular number of changes takes about three hours, it wouldn’t be something they’d have a second go at without a bit of a rest!
4d Joint second team in the Olympics, maybe (10)
The name of this joint of beef could perhaps describe the second medal-winning team in an event at the Olympics
21d In France, she’s overwhelmed by part that’s shot (6)
The French feminine form of the third person pronoun inserted into (overwhelmed by) an abbreviated part
23d Half-hearted run leads to dance (5)
Remove the letter in the middle of a run at a fast pace to reveal a lively dance
25d Finally accept inclination to provide public transport (5)
The clue tells you to take the final letter of accept and a slope (inclination). After a bit of dictionary searching and a short discussion with Mr CS, I am assuming the public are transporting themselves on foot!
26d Unwanted plant, very small, died (4)
A synonym for very small followed by the abbreviation for died
Could new readers please read the Welcome post and the FAQ before posting comments or asking questions about the site.
As this is a Prize crossword, please don’t put any ANSWERS, whether WHOLE, PARTIAL or INCORRECT, or any ALTERNATIVE CLUES in your comment. If in doubt, leave it out!
Please read these instructions carefully – they are not subject to debate or discussion. Offending comments may be redacted or, in extreme cases, deleted. In all cases the administrator’s decision is final.
If you don’t understand, or don’t wish to comply with, the conventions for commenting on weekend prize puzzles then save yourself (and me) a lot of trouble and don’t leave a comment.
The Quick Crossword pun: PROPER + GANDER = PROPAGANDA
Started off at a rapid pace with this puzzle until delayed by the southern third.
If I have the answer to 25d correct, I too don’t understand where the vessel concerned provides public transport. I thought that they took cargo wherever required, with no fixed schedule, which is not ideal for the public.
Favourites include the amusing 10a, 16a where I spent time going through a list of food preserves and 30a where it took a while for the penny to drop and I realized that it was an anagram.
An enjoyable solve (if I have the correct solutions!).
Re the vessel … anyone (with enough cash) can charter same and thus employ it as they see fit. As opposed to a liner service which follows a set route to a schedule.
For 25D I see it as a cryptic definition. From the comments, it looks an excellent misdirect
Flying start, then halted by SE.
Then three eventually leaving just 25d..
Not too happy with the only possible answer from the clue.
Still, there we are.
Thanks to the setter for the mental workout and to CS
25d doesn’t really work IMHO, anyone else try to shoe in [redacted – please read the instructions in red at the end of the hints) for 24a!
1.5*/3*. A fun crossword with a slight raised eyebrow for 25d where “public” is confusing at best or simply wrong.
Many thanks to the setter and to CS.
Enjoyable romp today. Also perplexed by 25d which was last in. 24a was favorite.
Thanks to CS and the setter.
Is the hint for 1a quite right?
Nice puzzle today.
Welcome to the blog. It wasn’t but it is now!
Enjoyable outing today that needed some thought on occasions. My last in was 11a which held me up for ages until the penny dropped. My fav was 24a. I’m very concerned that CS has hacked my pc as the hints that were omitted were for every clue I struggled with!
Thx to all.
**/****
I’m with you re 11a Brian, big penny drop moment for me eventually. Thanks to setter and Cryptic Sue
25d certainly felt like something of a stretch but I couldn’t find anything else to fit the checkers.
Quite an enjoyable puzzle otherwise and top of the pops here was 4d which made me laugh.
Thanks to our setter – not risking my five bob today – and thanks to CS for the hints although I hope nobody tries to use the one given for 1a!
They can use the hint for 1a now!
The SE took me as long as rhe rest of the puzzle. Like most others, 25d was a conundrum for me and I suspect DavevP and I are thinking, with some degree of scepticism alongvthe same lines. COTD was 4d and 24a, 13d and 16a were also great clues. Thanks to our compiler for a mainly straightforward puzzle and to CS for the hints.
Not too tricky today but agree that 25d is not the best. Bitterly cold wind here on the coast so my microwave beanbag providing welcome warmth. Thanks to all.
Quite a lot to enjoy here with many smiles and penny drops. Like Brian 11a was a Doh moment and 10a gave me a broad smile.
Thanks to CS for her hints and a sympathetic nod for the freezing cold wind and rain which is intermingling here in North Yorkshire with sunny intervals. Thanks also to the setter for a most satisfying puzzle except for …. oh it doesn’t matter, it has been pointed out several times before.
No rain here so the washing is drying nicely
It’s sunny but jolly cold here in the Vale of White Horse today, with a light frost early on. The bed-socks werevmuch appreciated
Swiftly solved. I’m working on the assumption that to provide public equates to noisy in 25d. Thanks to today’s setter and CS.
Cephas, Chalicea, A N Other – I have no idea so my five bob is staying in my pocket for this very enjoyable and not too demanding SPP – **/****
Candidates for favourite – 10a, 14a, 20a, 2d, and 17d – and, it might be an oldie but goodie, but the winner is 17d.
Thanks to whomsoever and to CS.
A very enjoyable Saturday puzzle for me, though I had to resort to electronic help rather too much for my self-esteem. Lovely weather intermittently here in Sussex, where I’m sitting in my greenhouse and rescuing a decrepit looking bee with honey and water!
Most enjoyable despite rather a lot of head scratching being needed on my part. Apart from one day, I have had a good week and the papers have been covered in ticks. Today is no exception with stars next to 11a, 27a and 4d among others. Like others, I was not sure about the transport in 25d. Either the public go on foot or use the first four letters but both seem a bit tenuous. My favourite and COTD was 10a both for the surface and the wordplay.
Many thanks to Miss Tree Setter for the challenge and CS for the hints. We have the same arctic blast in The Marches as you have, CS so, after stacking logs, I came into the warmth and have stayed. The garden can wait!
I was about to write a three thousand word essay about the merits or otherwise of 25d but I notice that topic has largely been covered!
Enjoyable crossword (25d excepted) with the Kent area proving trickiest to conquer.
Yesterday we undertook a gentle tour of the Cotswolds. Lunch at Burford and then on through Chipping Norton, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold, and finally, tea in Bourton-on-the-Water. I hadn’t been to the Cotswolds for over forty years, and H had never visited. Lovely to see the gentle, honey-coloured brickwork, but saddened to see so many old shops in Chipping Norton closed up and neglected. Bourton-on-the-Water currently looking a little under the weather due to yards and yards of ‘temporary’ green plastic fencing throughput the centre of the village. A bone-freezing ‘breeze’ followed us on our adventure.
Thanks to the setter and PC Security (anag)
Well, even though this didn’t turn out to be a pangram, to me it still felt like a Cephas puzzle.
1.5*/4* for me.
Favourites include 10a, 24a, 28a, 7d, 8d & 15d with winner 28a, followed closely by 7d
Some very ingenious clueing and misdirection in this puzzle and was well enjoyed.
A nice start tot eh weekend as we await anywhere from 15-30cm of snow in the Lower Mainland area of Vancouver starting Saturday afternoon … urgh!!
Will watch the two 6N games later on.
Thanks to setter and CS
Off to a flying start but my complacency was severely challenged in the SE corner, which took as long as the rest of the puzzle. I needed the hint for 24a – thank you CS. I was altogether on the wrong lines. Enough has been said regarding 25d. Favourites today were 10a, 11a, 7d and 21d. Top spot goes to the aforementioned 24a. Thanks to the compiler for the challenge and Cripticsue for her help.
Top half sorted early doors, bottom half sorted over scones and brews with Mama Bee while escaping sleety, haily rain. Raspberry and honeycomb scones particularly tasty. 25d much discussed above only real holdout and I concur with 24a as COTD as I have just been watching Jean-luc Picard who captained a spaceship of that name earlier in his “starfleet” career
I’m with everyone else in the SE with 25d being a bungin. I thought it was an easy ride until I got there. I liked 10 &16a and 8 & 21d. It is bitterly cold here with frequent showers of hail – so not conducive, as my father used to say. Have to go and make a Tarte Tatin now, my contribution to supper and an evening of Canasta. Many thanks to the setter and CS.
Haven’t played canasta in years, we used to play it by the hour, great fun.
My aunt and uncle introduced me to Canasta when I was a student. I fell in love with the game and played it whenever I could. Sadly, Mrs. C. does not like games so I never played after we were married. Mind you, I still have a fondness for Cribbage and have collected a number of Tunbridge Ware boards such as this one.
The pocket watch is a fusee driven movement from about 1865. It keeps great time but it can’t take pictures or call anyone. 😄
Mum and Dad played cribbage and had a board that looked a lot like that. I wonder whatever came of it.
Add us to the not liking 25d list. That apart mainly straightforward with 24a being cotd. Thanks to the setter and CS.
I find this pretty steady at around **/***. I do t normally do the Saturday puzzle but being on holiday in the Peak found time today. I did get the infamous 25d but only after excluding another form of transport which occasionally runs having realised the second part didn’t work. 4&7 d my favourites. Thanks to crypticsue and the Setter
No fun standing on the first tee today seeing off those barmy enough to brace the icy wind. 6 layers on top, long johns, trousers & waterproof bottoms plus woolly hat & snood & never got warm. As for the guzzle happy to go with the flow – no fan of 25d but thumbs up for 24a.
Thanks to the setter & to CS.
Fairly steamed home as in 25d!
Was looking forward to completing this after a morning at work, unfortunately for me it lacked a bit of sparkle.
2*/3*
Fav 4d LOI 25d after spending 10 minutes trying to justify answer.
Thanks to the setter & CS
With the exception of 25d, I found the downs easier going than the acrosses. Was held up for a while on 22a and 29a but got them eventually. Agree with everyone about 25d.
Thanks to crypticsue and to the setter .
Cold and overcast here with a snell wind.
Top went well but I fell short in the bottom and in the SE in particular. A bit short of dance vocab and a bit off wavelength.
Just in case anyone hasn’t had enough of 25d, I assumed it to be the most public of transport: that supplied by Mr Shanks.
Favourite = 10a; not the hardest, admittedly, but it’s so cleverly neat.
You’ve changed your alias from the one you’ve used previously which put your comment into moderation. Both will work from now on.
Ta for that. As my old school reports consistently and accurately observed, “Would do a lot better if he thought things through first.” 🤷🏻♂️
I found this harder than yesterday! I fairly whizzed through the north, but south was a different matter. I had to use ehelp eventually, even so I came up short on two – 20a and 13d, need help! Lots to like, 24a and 17d amused, but fave was 10a.
Thank you setter for an enjoyable Saturday morning, and CrypticSue for helping with a few in the south.
I finally made it out of my cocoon at noon (my time), as the overwhelming heat and the hot-air streams of pollen have driven us into hiding and otherworldly lunacy (meanwhile, there is a blizzard in Southern California, with snow in the LA suburbs). But in this cockamamie world, one thing for sure is good and reliable, and that’s the DT cryptic, and I really enjoyed this one, although 25a caused me a bit of concern, until I decided just to walk my way through it (properly, as it turned out). I especially enjoyed 11a and 24a and consider them a draw for the Gold today. Thanks to CS for her hints and to today’s setter for the entertainment. **/***
Google tells me that 25d seems to be the name of a card for accessing public transport in Scandinavia and perhaps parts of Europe like Poland if I recall. Otherwise mystified.
Oops! Meant to thank setter and CS! Thanks to both!
This was sailing along nicely, until it wasn’t. Had a chuckle at 14a and 7d, but the penny never dropped for me with 11a. As for 25d, enough said. But an enjoyable challenge, and surprised I managed most of it, having spent a good chunk of the night awake with a very sore eye. Dr Google informed me this morning that I have pink eye. Not good as I have upcoming cataract surgery (same eye of course) in 2 weeks. Thankfully, a quick call into my GP’s office, and he was calling me back within 10 minutes, having called in a prescription for me. The man is a star. Thanks to Cryptic Sue for helping unravel the mysterious today.
I do hope your eye gets better, BL. A sore eye is like toothache – it can’t be rubbed or massaged to ease the pain. It just has to be suffered! Not nice. You have my sympathy.
Today’s solve was a disjointed affair as it has been squeezed between tennis from Doha (shame Murray didn’t pull it off) and 6-Nations Rugby (still going with Wales v England – fingers crossed). The West provided a smoother ride than the East. My Fav was 10a. Slow in the uptake on 13d as I always forget that head. Bunged in 25d but agree with the many bloggers above who have reservations about it. I suppose however it could just at a stretch be justified as being transport of cargo for the public? Thank you Mysteron and CS.
Thank you for your remark about 13d. I couldn’t get that, no matter how much I looked at it from every angle! Just your one comment and I had it. Maybe I can get 20a now with ehelp.
Think of another word for ‘way’ or manner + a British military service, Merusa.
Thanks for your kind comments.
Thanks Cephas, love your puzzles.
Very nice puzzle, Cephas. Thank you.
A most enjoyable puzzle, Cephas. Thank you for the entertainment and for popping in.
Glad to see I was correct in my comment at 17 that it felt like one of your offerings … Awesome!
Due to a busy day out in London I have run out of time and brain cells to complete this today. The three quarters I managed were great fun so many thanks to Cephas and to CS for the hints which were great as ever.
No wonder I struggled – my answer to 24a was [redacted]
Welcome to the blog
Please read the instructions in red under the Hints, particularly the one about not including alternative solutions in comments on Prize crosswords